I read Leap 16 won’t run on CPUs without x86-64-v2 feature level support but Tumbleweed and Slowroll still can handle them. I’m glad theses old devices can continue with OpenSuse but it lead to a paradoxal situation : simple users (non-expert) can be “forced” to switch to rolling flavors … which are more intended for experienced users !
As this end of support is a major change, are rolling devs planning to make the distro more user friendly ?
One point in particular : udpating ! On Leap, updating can be GUI+automated out of the box with almost zero CLI intervention (conflicts are very rare with basic repos). On Tumbleweed/Slowroll, one must CLI zypper -dup outside the DE (so close graphical session, switch the console) and manage the operations without using the DE meanwhile.
How would you simplify this update process for simple users to whom you install and setup a Slowroll because their old device “requires” it ?
@vertclair There is a lot more to the hardware requirements that just V1 support, perhaps some information on your hardware setup and desktop environment may glean information from users with similar setups running the likes of Slowroll or Tumbleweed.
The likes of packagekit working in the background along Desktop Software integration should ease the burden, then there is Myrlyn for a Package manager GUI which does handle distribution upgrades (dup).
If wanting to use the likes of zypper dup then would suggest running screen before upgrading to avoid any issues…
Then there is Cockpit replacing YaST tools, but still some YaST (ncurses versions) lurking.
Hi, I looked at the man screen,SCREEN(1) manpage briefly. Do you happen to have some essential pointers on how to get screen up and running correctly in order to zypper dup ?
I was under the impression that passingsystemctl isolate multi-user.target then zypper dup was sufficiant.
For some reason I also believe that switching to VTTY1 and then logging in and passing zypper dup is also preferred sometimes during large upgrades instead of zypper dup within desktop environment.
Thanks for your quick reply @malcolmlewis ! My subject is not for one config in particular but to cover the situation of being lead to rolling because of a 64bit CPU that don’t handle v2 features, assuming all other requirements are matched, i.e.
2 Ghz dual core processor or better
2GB physical RAM + additional memory for your workload
Over 40GB of free hard drive space
Either a DVD drive or USB port for the installation media
(source : openSUSE Leap 16.0 - Get openSUSE)
Like @panorain, I also thought it’s better closing the DE session before running the dup in a console, to avoid issue (at least when the update contains change for the DE). So no Myrlyn nor Cockpit.
@vertclair I’m talking about the graphics stack and it’s capabilities with the likes of Wayland, system likely only has PCIe 2.0 and DDR2 RAM? What about application support?
I would suggest run a live USB to see how it goes with your hardware.
Indeed for DDR2 and Wayland needs. For the old computer I have in my hands theses days I’ve already ran a live CD to check the harware but I’ve not go further the CLI yet (which was fine). I will install Leap 15.6 and test with Wayland to check out experimentally. It runs Win 10 so I’m pretty confident and my main concern is about offering a smooth and automated way to keep the system up to date.